Weekly Updates (August 22-28)

Saturday, August 22: Ruby's Pantry at Mission Creek Church, 521 131st Avenue W., 11 am – 12:30 pm

Sunday, August 23: Worship at 10:30 am. Church doors are open and we welcome members to worship with us. Masks are required and social distancing and hygiene protocols observed. Pastor Paul posts weekly sermons on YouTube. Sermons are also available by email, or, if you would like a copy mailed to you, contact the church office at 218-626-2570 or office@unitedprotestantchurch.org.

Monday, August 24: Bible Study/Faith Conversation, 5:30 pm in Fellowship Hall. Masks and CoVid precautions required.

Monday, August 24, 5-7 pm, Fresh-Picked Produce Giveaway: Every Monday, the Morgan Park Community Gardens program is hosting a Produce Giveaway, free to all. This week, we'll be at the church, but in the future, locations around Morgan Park may vary. We'll try to keep you updated with the details, or check the community Facebook page, or just look for the signs on 88th. REQUEST: We're compiling a bunch of recipes to share with the produce on Mondays, with different ideas on how to prepare each veggie. Any good recipes involving fresh veggies? Send 'em our way!

For those who have been able to share offering: Thank You. It truly makes a difference. We rely heavily on plate giving of Sunday offering here, and expenses still continue. Also, we have had to cancel our regular fund raisers, so what you give, again, makes a difference.

“But who do you say that I am?”  ~ Matthew 16:15

     I know – and love – a lot of people that are not regular church-goers. Some stepped away 'round about high school in one of many waves of independence we have in that time of our life, some were pulled away by discovering alternatives in college, some were active as adults but somewhere along the way were left with a bad taste in their mouth. I love to hear their stories, and the many ways they piece together faith and religious practices in their own lives. I don't call them right or wrong. It is their story. I have mine.

     But the common theme is that every one of them (fact check, Paul…EVERY one of them?…a quick mental survey and, yes, I think that is accurate) – every one of them was raised in some sort of Christian background, which is to say that they have always been aware of Jesus, since before their feet touched the floor in the pews. Every one of them has some understanding of the story, of resurrection. Each one can describe in abstract ideology what they were taught, and each one can tell you what they think of it now. I love to listen.

     But try this one on for size – this was a question I asked our Bible Study on Monday: Imagine a person from a very different culture than ours, say, from an isolated village where Christian missions are not active and religious practices take a different shape and have a different label. What if a person there had never heard of Christianity, and knew nothing of Jesus? What if that person asked you “What is Christianity? Who was Jesus?”

     We lean often on assumptions of familiarity and common reference points in our conversations on faith, but what would it be like to bring our religious descriptions back to their very basic stories and concepts. Can we do it? What would you say?

     Now let's take this a step further: admitting my bias, based on my vocation, I'm pretty sure I can answer that previous question in detail – pretty sure I can write pages and pages to tease out the various things I might describe: the history, the characters, the concepts, the sacred texts, religious practices, common morality, etc., …but…what if I had to summarize, quickly and efficiently as if, say, having coffee with a new acquaintance one afternoon. Can I do that?

     I bring it up because I have this theory going through my head that the things we might say in response to those questions, if we were limited to less than a paragraph of words, are a pretty good indicator of the things God has to work with in God's endless desire to be present and active in our everyday (not-just-Sunday) lives.

     So here's a prayer suggestion:

     Hi God…you're awesome, and thanks for this day. Hey – I wanted to take a stab on answering that question that Pastor Paul wrote about in the email – that one about describing my faith in less than a paragraph. Here goes: … …  

     (Let me know how it goes, friends)

Keep in touch, 

 Pastor Paul